GC: Chapter 207

207. This Is My Home

Since that day, He Yuan never returned home. Without a single servant in the mansion, the place was filthy and messy. How could Yan Miao bear to stay there? She packed a few outfits and moved into a top-tier hotel room. She had only been there for a few days when she saw her husband at the hotel! He had his arms wrapped around a handsome young man with a slim waist and features that somewhat resembled Xu YouRan. The two men had their arms around each other. They were chattering happily as they walked out of the lift and were faced with Yan Miao who had just left her hotel room. 

When Miao saw them, she was so furious that her composure cracked. Homosexuals were the kind of people she had looked down on the most in her entire life. To Miao, her two nephews were the embarrassment of the family. He Yuan had always agreed with her. She had always been proud of her husband. Never could she have imagined her “homophobic” husband would be playing around with men! She was so disgusted that she felt like puking right then and there. The thought that the man might’ve been having sex with men before the couple had turned hostile against each other made her wish she could skin him alive.

With a shriek of rage, Miao charged at the two men, arms swinging crazily at them. When Yuan saw her, he felt some guilt at first. However, when her hands hit him, the guilt was replaced by rage. His face had just finished healing. Now, it was bleeding again. The prey he had hooked a few moments ago had also been frightened away. In a fit of rage, Yuan dragged her to one side and began slapping her hard. In a real fight, Yan Miao would never be a match for He Yuan. Soon, there was blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. However, even if she couldn’t beat him in a fight, she would never stop shouting at him. Her shrill voice repeated over and over again phrases like “disgusting”, “pervert” and “die a horrible death”. When Yuan noticed they had caused a rather loud commotion, he dragged her out of the hotel and back to their mansion. She was being too embarrassing.

The moment Yuan stepped through the mansion doors, he was greeted with the messy state of the house. “You’ve kicked up a fuss and chased away all of our servants again?” he coldly asked. “No wonder you’d be at the hotel. Yan Miao, I thought that I could let you be Madam He on the basis that your surname is still Yan. I didn’t think that you wouldn’t stop with the antics, even at this stage. In that case, you can’t say I’m heartless for what I’ll do next.”

Miao was still screaming at the man and trying her best to twist her arm out of his grip, disgusted by his touch. 

“What? You find me disgusting?” Yuan coldly laughed. “I’ll have you know that I swung both ways from the start, although I prefer men more. I don’t need to tell you again why I married you. In the past decades, I’ve stayed by your side, rarely straying away for a taste of something new. Look at how much I’ve sacrificed for you.”

“He Yuan, you will die a horrible death!” Miao angrily shouted. “You disgusting liar!”

“Yes, I’m a liar. I’ve lied to you, to…” said Yuan. “But what does it matter? You know about it too late. If you found out before the Yan family gave up on you, I might have been scared. But now? Just who are you? Look at you. You can have a good life but you won’t settle for it. You insist on causing trouble. I hope you’re happy. I don’t even have a reason to let you move around freely now.”

He dragged Miao by the arm up into the second-floor bedroom and threw her to the floor. Then, he slammed the door shut behind him. As Miao frantically cried and shouted, he called a few of his trusted men to guard the mansion while he himself returned to the He family home.

Yuan knew things had gone bad. One must not be fooled by his nonchalant words when speaking to Yan Miao. His heart had honestly sunken so far down that it was at the bottom of a cliff. Yan Miao now knew about his sexuality. She would never stop at just this. No matter how disappointed the old Mr Yan was with her, she was still the daughter he had loved and pampered for decades. If the cause was something else, it would’ve been fine. However, the old Mr Yan would definitely never ignore something like a homosexual marrying his daughter. Furthermore, such dirty laundry would affect the Yan family’s reputation. Even if the Yan family cared not for Yan Miao, they would still kill him. 

He had taken Miao’s phone away, cutting her off from all contact. However, locking Miao up and preventing her from contacting the Yan family was not a plan that would work for long. He can’t lock her up forever. Sooner or later, he would be exposed. The only solution he had now was to lock Miao up as long as possible. He would use this period to send the He family’s assets, his parents and his children overseas. He could find a small country that wasn’t well-known. Everyone would start a new life under a new name. Anything was fine, even if they had to buy up a large farm and be a farm owner. It was best if the Yan family could never find him. If he stayed here, not only would his reputation be sullied, he would also be faced with a terrible future.

He Yuan actually knew from the moment he decided to wed Yan Miao that this marriage was a gamble and an exchange. He would use his marriage to gain wealth beyond his dreams. He had planned on hiding his true sexuality his whole life if nothing bad happened along the way. But nothing in the world was easy. One lifetime was too long for him. Yan Miao’s savage personality made life unbearable. In terms of his career, he had gotten what he wanted. However, he didn’t feel happy. No matter how grand he appeared to the outside world, he would always have his head bowed down when he was home. 

Time and time again, he wondered if he had made the wrong decision. If he had known his place and developed the family business slowly and not dreamed of shooting to the top, could he have had a better life? But it was too late for him once he started feeling the pangs of regret. He had already married Yan Miao. It was like riding a tiger. Getting off was a hard task. All Yuan could do was use his whole life to pay the price for his one gigantic mistake. Still, the more he tried to suppress himself, the more painful life felt. The more painful life was, the more he wanted to break free of it. But he didn’t dare do it. 

If he broke away from Yan Miao, he wouldn’t be greeted with a life of freedom. He would be facing a neverending hell. It wouldn’t be just him either. His family, his parents, would all be dragged down to hell. He didn’t have the guts to do it. He had only married Miao for a few years and he had already wished countless times that he could just kill off Miao and be done with it.

Just as the beast within him grew more and more rabid, he met Xu YouRan. The young man was standing in the shade of a tree. He was slim. Held between those slender fingers was a book. His soft black hair gently laid on his forehead. His eyes were closed. Tranquillity was written all over his face. Sunlight, scattered by the leaves of the tree, shone on his pale cheeks. He looked so peaceful, so beautiful. Yuan was stunned. His feet seemed to have been nailed to the ground. He was unable to walk away.

Then, as if the young man had sensed a strong gaze on him, he opened his eyes, revealing a set of ethereal and melancholic eyes. He looked at Yuan, seemingly curious as to why this stranger was staring at him. Still, Xu YouRan nodded to Yuan in greeting before leaving his spot, book in hand.

That was the first time He Yuan encountered Xu YouRan. Since then, more than once he had wondered what would’ve happened if he met the young man before he decided to marry Yan Miao. Everything would be different then. He would be at peace with his situation. He would be okay with slowly and steadily building up the He family. He’d have a normal relationship with the young man before marrying him. How nice that would’ve been.

But Yuan knew that it was all just a fantasy. If that truly happened, he would also begrudge the young man for being unable to help him with his business. A smooth-going relationship wouldn’t be cherished by anyone. In the end, they’ll turn into a couple who hated each other. He had also thought about how great it would be if YouRan had a similar background to Yan Miao. But no matter how many what-ifs he asked, this world would never grant any of them. Reality was set in stone. He could not change anything.

His relationship with YouRan did not have a perfect start and it ended just as badly. Even so, to Yuan, his life was much better when he had YouRan. The young man comforted the beast within him. Yuan no longer woke up in the middle of the night with the strong urge to strangle Yan Miao. He had more patience to play along with Yan Miao’s antics. Yuan knew it was unfair to the young man but he had no choice. Xu YouRan was like a cure. It was only with him can Yuan’s mind be at peace. It was only him who could ensure Yuan could once more put on a flawless fake smile. 

Deep down, Yuan knew that if Miao ever found out about YouRan, he wouldn’t be able to protect YouRan. Yuan might even push the man into harm’s way in order to protect him and his family. Still, he could not deny that his time with YouRan was the happiest he had been since getting married. All he could do for YouRan was to respect him to the best of his abilities. YouRan was against having sex, so he didn’t force the man. YouRan didn’t really love him. What the young man felt was more towards a thirst for family. Yuan didn’t try to force the issue as he was at peace whenever he was with YouRan.

To be honest, it was good that he had split up from YouRan. If their relationship had gone on, what awaited the young man would not be anything nice. Bai YiHan once worried that Yuan would bear a grudge against them, against YouRan, but Yuan really didn’t hate them. In fact, he was thankful that they had helped him make a decision. YouRan was spared. While he couldn’t bear parting from the young man, he felt somewhat glad and relieved. If Yan Yan and the others didn’t appear, his affair with YouRan wouldn’t have ended, couldn’t have ended, until one of them was destroyed.

Breaking up with YouRan awakened the beast within Yuan. He grew more and more impatient when it came to Miao. This recent incident had turned his decades of hard work and suffering into a joke. Yan Miao had destroyed everything she had brought to him. While he was still furious about it, he was, secretly, a little happy about it. So be it. No matter what happens, everything can have an end. A lifetime was just too long. Yuan could not endure it.

His hands, the hands he had just beaten Miao up with, tightened around the steering wheel. On his handsome face, there was a hint of a crazed smile.

***

No matter how important a person was, no matter how earth-shattering an incident was, nothing could stall the flow of time. Time wouldn’t be affected by anyone or anything. It would only move at its own pace and slowly march forward. As everyone was preoccupied with incident after incident, Christmas eventually arrived.

As per their plans, Yan Yan and Xu YouRan obtained their marriage certificate on Christmas Eve. They had already bought their new house. It was a small mansion, not too big. The place might be rather remote but it was very peaceful and extremely safe. Even after the renovations were done, Yan didn’t let YouRan step foot in the place before they formally moved in. Yan, YiHan and Zhang Su were in charge of decorating the place. When Yan Pei had some spare time, she’d tag along to provide some decoration ideas, in her usual chattering manner. They worked non-stop. Finally, they were able to finish up before the year was over.

The moment YouRan walked through the front door and set eyes upon the decorated house, he thought, “This is my home.”

Yan had been right behind him. He nervously watched as YouRan took a stroll around the ground floor. As YouRan turned to slowly walk up the stairs, Yan couldn’t help but hold his breath. The first floor was basically just the living room, kitchen, guest room, storage room and what-not. The second floor was the main event. It primarily consisted of their bedrooms, some guest rooms, a gym and the two men’s study rooms. It was where the couple would spend most of their time.

Translator’s Note:

A homosexual marrying Yan Miao: Reminder that he is technically bisexual. The original text translates to “fake marriage” with the implicit meaning of a gay person lying to a woman and marrying her to use her as a beard. It was much more succinct and accurate (to context) to change the translation to “a homosexual marrying his daughter” instead.He Yuan, the character: Let me just grumble a little here on just how toxic He Yuan sounds. His mindset is of a classic abuser who thinks his actions aren’t abusive as he had to make some “sacrifices” for him to take those actions. While Yan Miao is quite bad herself, it doesn’t excuse He Yuan’s actions.

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